Chairman of the Nobel peace prize committee Thorbjoen Jagland holds a picture of the 2009 winner.

Congratulations, Mr. President. What an honor. Right wing heads are popping all over the place today. They’re speaking of their disbelief that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a young, African American, sitting president. He’s only the third US President to achieve such an honor. After Chicago lost the Olympic bid (thank goodness) conservatives couldn’t help but spout the usual brand of “I told you so’s and that’s what Obama gets” as if he was the one pushing hardest for the bid and not the deluded Mayor Daley.

It reminds me of the two times former President Bush won Time Magazines “Man of the Year”. Twice, mind you. Remember your reaction liberals? Well, multiply it by ten and you’ll have conservative and some moderates reactions to the news this morning.

Comments such as this one are flooding the Internet:

“Are you kidding me? The Nobel Prize has really lost it’s credibility and prestige from this day forward. It should be awarded to men or women who have devoted a LIFETIME to achieving peace, not some pop star version of it.”

When Al Gore won the prize in 2007 these comments were typical. They’re just as typical now. Yes, perhaps the prize should have gone to Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh as a statement that America is striving for peace and renewed prosperity. They should be honored for their tireless work toward open dialogue, cohesion and contributions to health care reform, which they support 100%. Yeah, that’s the real joke.

Let’s get serious for a minute. It may be too soon in the minds of many Americans, but it’s about damn time in the minds of many others. The negativity mostly from the right is disappointing to say the least; virile disdain does not coincide with peace in any dimension.

It strikes me as odd how much incompetence was celebrated during the presidency of George Buch jr., but the condemnation accompanying Obama’s win is supposed to be taken seriously. If the Nobel committee is suddenly a joke for awarding this honor to our president, then the joke is on the usual brand of ignorant conservatism.

They do realize that Obama neither nominated or elected himself.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it gave the prize to Obama for his “efforts to strengthen international diplomacy,” his vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons” and for inspiring hope and creating “a new climate in international politics.”

So why take shots at the president, instead of the committee?

Premature? Maybe a little. We still don’t have health care for all of our citizens, we’re still a nuclear country, we’re still sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq and we’ve done little in the way of bringing about peaceful resolutions to Israel and the Palestinians. The Taliban is alive and well, drugs are rampant in Afghanistan as is drug use among soldiers stationed there and the killing and terrorism has not waned to any end. Not to forget the nagging bit of knowledge that not all Americans enjoy equal civil rights. Not yet at least.

On the other end of the political spectrum, Europe is sending clear signals to the American people and the world at large. They want the rest of the world to understand that they are relieved that Americans picked Barack Obama for president. They recognize and fully agree with the promise of hope and change and they have faith in his ability to implement the audacity of that hope on the world stage.

Final thoughts:

I don’t see how Obama can escalate further military action in good conscience if he accepts the award, which he must. The committee took a huge, unexpected leap and they have taken a indirect hand in honoring the promise of re-shaping our future through reachable policies regarding world peace rather than simply awarding past ones. Despite any disgruntling about what Obama’s administration has or hasn’t yet accomplished at home, I’m extremely pleased with the Nobel committees choice.